Poinciana Medical will start with inpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy but will assess the need for outpatient therapy as well, said Gregg Jacob, director of radiology, rehabilitation and non-invasive cardiology.

“The community will tell us what we need to do,” said Jacob, who previously was at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

Many employees interviewed live in Poinciana or neighboring Solivita, giving them the double enthusiasm of starting a hospital and reducing their work commute.

Registered nurse Hope Everd, in Poinciana since 2004, said she gets to work in eight minutes instead of the 40 it took her to reach Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center in Haines City.

Registered nurse Aldea Tyus, in Poinciana seven years, has cut her commute from 35 minutes to 17.

“We've waited for this hospital for so long,” said Christina Rosario, also a registered nurse. “It's great to actually be a part of it.”

They're anticipating the arrival of their first patients.

“We're going to be so excited we might scare them,” said Lisa Clark, a certified nursing assistant, when asked if anything special is planned for the first official patient.

PMC's foothold in two counties aptly reflects the makeup of some of its most ardent supporters:Area residents fought almost a decade to have a hospital built there. Unincorporated Poinciana has villages in both counties.

“I'm levitating,” said Annette Brown-Best, a co-founder of Friends of Poinciana Hospital. “I feel like I gave birth after five years in labor.”

Her group formed in 2008 to rekindle the fight after an earlier effort for a Poinciana hospital was defeated.

“This is an example of what citizens can achieve in spite of the government,” said co-founder Fernando Valverde,

They and others lobbied lawmakers for changes in the “certificate of need” process hospitals go through to get permission to build.

“This is probably the most awaited event in this area,” said Val Ramos, another of the community activists.

Although Valverde said the Friends group officially disbanded, its mission accomplished, they were wearing their buttons Thursday.

For Cindy Rogers and her husband, Jim, the wait for a hospital has been too long.

They joined the lobbying effort in 2007 after Cindy Rogers, in pain from four fractures in her elbow, realized how far from a hospital Solivita was.

“I was in a lot of pain,” she said. “911 didn't know what county we were in.”

It took 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, she said, and longer than that to reach Osceola Regional.